


Summer

by StarFromPhoenix



Series: More Myself Than I Am [1]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Elio POV, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Oliver pov, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-17 10:21:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarFromPhoenix/pseuds/StarFromPhoenix
Summary: I've decided to flip the script! Elio is a foreign exchange student from Italy who is staying with a family in California during his senior year of high school. He meets their son, Oliver, and romance ensues! The story is set in modern day.Please don't repost my work without my permission :)I don't own these characters, they own me :)The title of my series: "More Myself than I Am" comes from a quote from Wuthering Heights, which was referred to in the book:"He is more myself than I am, whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."





	1. First Meetings

It was Wednesday, June 7. I threw my Invicta backpack into the overhead compartment and took my seat. I was happy it was a window seat. I bit my lip as I looked out the window, smiling to myself. California. I felt nervous and excited, but I knew I wanted this. I took my iPhone out and looked at my home screen. It was a picture of my parents, smiling.

The plane was ready to take off. I was lucky, no one sat beside me. I put my seatbelt on, put my iPhone on airplane mode and put my headphones on. I couldn't wait for this next chapter in my life to start.

 

* * *

 

 "Sir," a gentle hand shook my shoulder.

I woke up, "Yes? Yes?" I rubbed my eyes.

"We've landed," the stewardess said smiling at me.

"Oh, thank you," I said.

I got up and stretched. I grabbed my backpack from the overhead and started to walk off the plane.

 

I pulled my phone out and read the text message from last night. "You won't miss me, I'll be the 6'5 blond guy." Oliver had texted. I had almost asked him to send me a picture, but didn't want to come across as weird. What if he didn't stand out? I'm sure there were lots of tall blond guys in California.

"Ok, see you tomorrow." was my reply. "Later!" he had texted back. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair as I walked into the terminal.

I saw him. I had nothing to worry about, he stood out. I felt my heart skip a beat as I laid eyes on him. 

 

He was tall, yes, 6'5. Blond hair perfectly combed, he had a light gray shirt with thin white horizontal stripes on, cuffed gray jeans and white Lacrosse leather sneakers. He was standing with his arms crossed, sunglasses in his right hand. He looked like a modern day Greek god.

I looked down at my clothes, suddenly feeling self conscious. I pulled on my white tee shirt and black hoodie, ran my hands through my hair and pulled my headphones down, hanging them around my neck. I probably looked like I had just spent the last few hours sleeping on a plane... great.

 

I walked up to him, "Hey, Oliver?"

"Yes! Elio?" He smiled. Wow. He had a  _really_ nice smile.

"Yeah, hi, nice to meet you." I put my hand out for a handshake.

"Yeah, same. How was your flight?" He asked me as he shook my hand. He gave it a bit of a squeeze. I could melt.

"Long," I said chuckling.

He flashed me his brilliant smile again and nodded. "Come on, let's go get your luggage."

 

I walked behind him, my heart pounding. Chill out, I told myself, chill  _the fuck_ out.

 

I suddenly remembered last summer. I had gone by myself to the movies. It was a movie I had already watched with my friends, I had liked it a lot and decided to return. The theater had been empty for a long while and I thought I may have the theater to myself. A few minutes before the movie was supposed to start, someone else walked in. A young guy, around my age. He looked around and saw me, he had smiled and had sat close by. No one else showed up and we had commented on the film the whole way through. This was his third time seeing it, he had said. It was my fourth. It surprised me how attractive I had found him. As we were walking out, he had asked me out to eat but I was nervous and had said no. He had given me his number and I had never had the nerve to call him and ended up throwing it away. I had regretted it after. I had never felt attracted to any other guys since... until now. I took a few deep breaths.

 

We got my luggage. He was helping me pull one and I had the other.

"You may wanna take off the hoodie, it's pretty hot outside," he said as he put on his sunglasses.

I nodded and started to pull off my hoodie, I felt my shirt ride up, I quickly pulled it down. I looked up him, he was facing me, slight smile on his face but it was hard to read his expression with his sunglasses on. I reached for mine in my backpack and put them on.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Let's go!"

 

We walked out into the hot California afternoon sun. After a few minutes, I saw him pull his keys out of his pocket and press the remote. I saw the lights of a white car flash. As I walked closer I saw it was an Audi A5 convertible. We put my luggage in the trunk and got in.

"Do you mind if we keep the top down?" he asked me.

"It's your car, do what you want," I said, smiling.

He nodded and we took off.

"Are you hungry?" he asked me as we pulled out onto the street.

"Yeah, actually, I am."

"Ok, if you don't mind, I want to get out of LA and all this traffic, we'll hit the PCH and I'll take you to the closest In-N-Out. Best burgers in California." He flashed me his smile again.

"Sounds good," I said, smiling back.

 

We were stopped at a red light. "What kind of music do you like?" he asked me motioning to the screen of his satellite radio.

"I like everything," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Everything?" he asked me. He sounded as if he didn't believe me.

"Yeah," I said looking at him, "I'll try everything once. No point in limiting yourself to all the beauty around you."

He looked at me and even with his sunglasses on I could tell I had impressed him with my answer. I smiled, feeling confident. I can do this, I thought.

He touched the numbers on the center console and The Psychedelic Furs came on. He tapped his thumb on the steering wheel, humming to Love My Way. The light turned green. After a while we were out of LA and on the Pacific Coast Highway. The sun was glistening on the ocean in the distance. The scene was beautiful and breathtaking.

 

We pulled off the highway and into an In-N-Out, he parked his car and we stepped out. I reached into the backseat to grab my backpack and saw he was stretching, his shirt lifting slightly, exposing his lower abdomen. I looked away quickly. I put my backpack on and followed him to the door. He pulled it open for me. "Thank you," I said. I took off my sunglasses as we stepped inside.

After we had gotten our food we sat down facing each other. He put his sunglasses down on the table. I put my sunglasses and headphones in my backpack. I ran my hands through my hair.

"So is this your first time in the states?" he asked.

"No, it's my third time here but my first time in California. The two times before we had visited the east coast," I said.

"Oh, ok. Well, we have the whole summer before school starts, I could show you around," he said nonchalantly.

My heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, that would be great, thank you," I said. I picked up my burger and took a bite.

"Maybe tonight, if you're not too tired, we can hit the beach," he took a bite of his burger. 

I nodded, my heart pounding. He smiled.

"You speak English very well. You don't have an accent at all. Does your whole family speak English?"

"Yeah, we all speak it, but I grew up speaking Italian to my dad and French to my mom and English to both," I said with a chuckle.

"Wow! That's impressive!" he said. He looked impressed, I loved it.

"Si tu veux, je pourrais t'apprendre un peu de français," I said with a wink.

He smiled. "That's awesome," he said. I liked this. I wanted to impress him, I wanted him to find me interesting.

"So... are you in school?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm at UCSB."

"Oh, really? Why not UCLA?"

"Well, I grew up in Santa Barbara county, so, it's closer, the views are better from UCSB and I'd hate the thought of dealing with LA traffic five days a week!"

I chuckled. "What are you studying?"

"Philosophy."

I nodded my head, "That's interesting, what attracted you to it?"

He gave me a look, as if trying to decide if my interest was genuine. It was, I wanted to know everything about him. After a few seconds he said, "Well, if you were to look 'philosophy' up in any dictionary it'll pretty much say it is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence."

I nodded. "So in understanding philosophy, you, in a way, understand everything?"

He looked at me again, but this time he gave me a smile and seemed to be enjoying the fact that we were discussing this. "Perhaps," he said, leaning back on his seat, with a shrug of his shoulder and a half smile on his face. I admired how confident he looked. "But as the Socratic paradox states: I know that I know nothing, so the study and understanding of philosophy never ends."

 

We finished eating and hopped back into the car. Most of the ride up was on the PCH and it was beautiful. As we drove, Oliver pointed out names of places and would say, "we should go visit that." 'We' he would say, as in he and I. This made me smile.

"So, my parents live in Carpinteria," Oliver said as we got off the highway. "It's literally a ten mile drive from Santa Barbara. The beach is great for surfing," he said. I had a mental image of Oliver surfing. "Have you ever tried it?" he asked. I shook my head. He smiled at me, "you should."

"Maybe you could teach me," I said glancing at him.

"Of course," he replied softly.

"So you don't live with your parents?" I asked.

"When I started at UCSB I lived on campus. I normally stayed home for the summer. I inherited my grandmother's home in Santa Barbara not so long ago, so I'll be staying with them until I fix up the place. I'm hoping I'll be done by the end of the year."

I nodded as I looked around. The homes we were passing were pretty large and spaced out pretty far apart. We turned down a long driveway that ended at a gate, which was open.

"My mother is a riding instructor," he pointed to the left. In the distance I could see horses and a long building which I assumed were the stables. We turned right and I could see the house now. It was large, larger than our Villa in Italy.

"Home sweet home," Oliver said, parking his car in a detached garage.

We got my suitcases out and stepped inside. The entrance was a beautiful marble hallway. The living room was to the left and the stairs to the right. I followed him up the stairs and walked down the hallway. We passed a door on the right, he then opened up the second one.

"This is your room," he said as we stepped inside. The room was spacious. It had cherry herringbone hardwood floors. To the left of the door was a large dresser and a stand up mirror on the corner. A queen size bed with a wood and iron frame was on the wall adjacent. A bedside table and lamp on each side. Across from us was a desk with a computer in front of a very large window with long curtains that reached the floor hanging on either side. You could see the blue sky and mountains in the distance. 

Oliver pointed to the door on the corner on the wall facing the bed, "that's your closet," he said. He closed the door to my bedroom, stepping in and putting my suitcase beside the bed and showed me the door behind it, "the bathroom is through here." He looked at me, "we'll be sharing a bathroom, my room is on the other side of it."

I nodded, stepping past him and flopping down on the bed.

"You must be tired," he said, "I'll let you rest."

I sat up, "So, you said we could go to the beach later on tonight?"

"Yeah, sure, if you're up to it. Later!"

And with that he walked out of my bedroom and shut the door behind him.

 

 

 


	2. The Family

I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. The sun was really bright. I looked at my watch. I had set it to California time on the plane. 7:55 am.  _WHAT?_ I got up. My shoes were off and placed by the foot of the bed, I didn't remember taking them off. I remembered laying down on the bed after Oliver had walked out the afternoon before and closing my eyes. I must have slept all through the night. I stood up and caught sight of myself in the mirror.

I needed to shower and change. I opened the bathroom door. I saw the door at the opposite end and remembered Oliver had said his room was on the other side. I walked in and got close to the door. I couldn't hear anything. I showered and put on some fresh clothes, a red polo shirt and jeans with my white high top converse. I looked at myself in the mirror. I sighed.

I walked out of my room, down the hallway and down the stairs, they curved out at the landing. Once I reached the bottom I looked up at the beautiful, large chandelier. I looked out the front double doors, to my left, they were wood and glass with a wrought iron design on the glass. They matched the wood and iron on the stair railing.

I looked straight ahead at the living room. It had wooden floors, just like my room. There was a cream upholstered living room set with a glass coffee table, behind it a beautiful large white grand piano. I turned right, walking slowly. Beside the living room, separated by a large columned archway, was a spacious dining room. There was a large cream dining room table that could seat eight. A beautiful painting on the wall to the right that I recognized. I looked at the end of the hallway and saw a pool table in the room at the end.

Across the hall from the dining room I saw the kitchen, an older lady was in there cleaning up. I walked in. The ceiling had exposed wooden beams. There was a large kitchen island with several stools, which separated the kitchen from a sitting area with leather couches. There was a fireplace with a flat screen mounted above it. There were French doors on the wall adjacent to the fireplace, with white see through curtains. The doors were open and the curtains were blowing in the soft breeze.

 

"Good morning, are you the exchange student?" the lady asked. I nodded. "Welcome, I'm Rose. The family is outside having breakfast," she gestured to the open French doors.

"Thank you, I'm Elio," I said, giving her a smile, she smiled back. I walked past the kitchen island and went outside.

The view was beautiful. Bright blue sky, mountains in the distance. Oliver and his parents were sitting at a pewter and glass outdoor table to the left. A huge red umbrella shading them from the sun. As I walked towards them I could see the pool past them. Oliver had his sunglasses on, hair perfectly combed, he had a short sleeved button up dark blue shirt, white dress shorts and blue boat shoes that matched his shirt perfectly.

I walked towards the table. "Good morning, Elio," Oliver's mother called out, waving her hand when she caught sight of me.

"Good morning," I said as I reached the table, sitting down across from Oliver and her.

"Please, help yourself," she said gesturing to the food on the table. "How was your flight?" she asked.

"Long," Oliver said, looking down at his phone.

"Hmm," his mother replied, giving him a disapproving look. Oliver had gotten his blond hair and blue eyes from her.

"I hope you feel rested," his father said. He was seating at the head of the table reading a newspaper.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. -"

"Oh no, no. Call me Hugh," he said. He folded his newspaper and put it down on the table. "I hope you enjoy your time with us. It's wonderful you chose to spend the summer with us as well. Our home is your home," he said, getting up. He was just as tall as Oliver, if you looked at them from behind, it would be hard to tell who was who, if it wasn't for Hugh's brown hair. "I have to meet a client," he said, leaning down and giving Oliver's mom a kiss on the cheek. "Oliver," he said as he squeezed his shoulder walking by him.

"Later!" Oliver said, without looking up. I watched as he walked through the French doors.

"Oliver, please take off your sunglasses and put down your phone," his mother said. She turned to me, "your mother called last night but you were sleeping. I let her know you landed safely, but please give her a call when you can." I nodded. "Oliver will take you to the mall today and get you a cell phone with a local number," she said smiling. "You're here for a year, you need to have a phone."

"Oh, I have my iPhone, it's unlocked," I said. I saw Oliver smile.

"Whatever works best for you," she said. I had a feeling she hadn't liked my answer. "My husband is a finance lawyer and we sometimes have clients and other business partners over for dinner. When that happens, I'll let you know, so you can dress appropriately," she said.

"Oh, uh, I didn't know," I stammered. "I didn't bring a suit jacket or anything."

"No problem! Oliver can take you somewhere and get you something really nice to wear," she said smiling. 

I looked at Oliver, he had pushed his sunglasses up on his head. He was looking at me but I couldn't read his expression. I looked away quickly.

"Miss Katherine, phone call for you," Rose called from the French doors.

"Excuse me," she said getting up. "Maybe soon you can make it down to the stables. I'll show you around." She placed her hand on Oliver's shoulder, "please make sure Elio has all of our cell phone numbers." Oliver nodded. She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you both at dinner," she said and walked into the house.

 

I looked back down at the table nervously. My stomach was in knots. I didn't expect to be alone with him so quickly again, although I knew I wanted to be.

"You must be hungry, help yourself," he said.

"Thank you," I said softly. I got some French toast a poured some syrup on them.

"Well, I was thinking we could hit the beach today since you passed out on me last night." Oliver said. I looked up at him. He was looking off towards the pool I couldn't see his face. Was he mad?

"Sorry about that," I said, looking at him still.

"It's alright. Jet lag sucks," he looked at me and flashed me his perfect smile.

I smiled back. His shirt had the top buttons undone and I noticed he had a golden Star of David on. It must have been inside his shirt yesterday. He noticed me looking at it.

"My parents liked you more when they spoke to your parents and found out you were Jewish," he said. "Hence the reason you're here two months early."

 

I remembered when I heard about the student exchange program at school. I knew I wanted to do it when I heard about it. I had always wanted to come to university in the US and this seemed like a perfect step in that direction. It didn't take much to convince my parents. They were amazingly supportive and wanted me to experience the world. I remembered when I came home and my mom had told me her and papa had Skyped with the parents I would be staying with. She told me it was a family in California and they had a son of their own that was in university. I was excited as I wasn't sure which family would choose me. California seemed like a dream come true.

I had a choice of coming for five or ten months. I decided to do the whole school year. I was surprised when my mother had told me the family that was to host me had asked if I'd like to fly out earlier, at the beginning of summer break. "She said she wanted you to feel comfortable and introduce you to the children of some of her friends who are also students at the school you'll be going to before the year starts, what do you think, mon cher?" my mother had asked. I was so excited I agreed quickly to it. It would mean I'd spend a whole year abroad.

It had been three days before I was set to fly out when I got a text message. "Hey, this is Oliver. You're staying with my parents and I for a year. I'll be picking you up at the airport."

I had saved the number. "Hi, I'm Elio. Thank you." I had texted back. I wasn't sure what else to say.

The night before my flight, another text had come in. "Hey, just double checking you arrival time tomorrow. So 3:45 pm?"

"Yes." I had texted back. "How will I recognize you?"

"You won't miss me, I'll be the 6'5 blond guy." he had texted back. He was right, he was easy to spot.

 

I looked at Oliver now. "Oh, really? My parents didn't even mention your family was Jewish." I smiled. "Does your family normally host exchange students?"

"You're the third one," he said. He put his sunglasses back on. "The first  was a girl from Germany who had bigger biceps than me," he chuckled.

"Ha ha," I laughed. He had a really nice laugh.

"Then last year we had a guy from France." He picked up his orange juice and sipped it. "His French didn't sound as nice as yours did yesterday, though," he said. "Maybe it's your voice."

I felt my neck and cheeks grow hot. He was looking at me but it was unnerving that I couldn't see his eyes because of his sunglasses. I took a bite of my food. He didn't say anything else and I was too nervous to look up. My French sounded nicer? Well, obviously last year's French guy had spoken to him in French. I wondered if Oliver had asked him to or maybe he had tried to impress him like I had. I swallowed my food and finally looked up. He was looking down at his cell phone. He laid it down on the table when he noticed I was looking at him.

"Well, we'll get you a cell phone and some snobby, dressy attire," he said sounding bored. 

"Oh, I have my iPhone, it's unlocked. You don't need to get me a new one."

He laughed. "My mother didn't like it when you said that. She likes to flash her wealth around." He tapped his fingers on the table. I wasn't sure what to say. "Take the new phone," he said shrugging, "the other kids did."

I furrowed my brown and looked at him. I wish he would take his sunglasses off. I felt slightly angry by his comment. "Well, maybe I'm not like the other  _kids_ ," I said. I hated the thought of him looking at me like he looked at them. What would he say about me to next year's exchange student?

He sat up and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. He slid his sunglasses up on his head again. "Elio, I apologize," he said. "I didn't mean anything offensive by it."

He looked genuine and I suddenly felt very silly for having taken any offense. I also loved hearing him say my name. "Sorry," I said hastily, looking down at the table. I was acting childish.

"No, its ok. Hey listen," he said, I looked up at him. "If you're worried that by taking the phone or the clothes you're taking advantage in anyway, don't, ok?" he looked into my eyes.

I nodded and smiled. "Ok," I said.

"Ok, good," he leaned back, pushing his sunglasses down again. "But, no rush, finish eating, then give your parents a call, they're waiting for it."

I nodded.


	3. Surprises and Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments and kudos! They are all greatly appreciated and I hope you continue to enjoy this!

"Salut, maman? Oui, oui tout est super, le vol était bien," I looked at Oliver. He was sitting on the couch, phone in hand. I remembered his comment on how nice my French sounded. "Leur maison est belle et tout le monde est très gentil." I saw him look up from his phone and look at me. I swallowed and looked at the floor. "Oui, je serai très respectueux. Dis à papa que je l'aime. Je t'aime aussi. Au revoir, parler bientôt."

I disconnected the call and put the phone back on the charger.

"All's good?" he asked.

"Yup," I said.

"Ok, ready to go?" he asked. I nodded. I had gone upstairs and gotten my sunglasses and wallet before I had called home. "Ok, let's go!" he said, sliding his sunglasses on. I put mine on as we walked out the front door and hopped in his car.

 

"So how often do your father's clients and business partners come over for dinner?" I asked.

"Not much, a couple of times a month if that." he said. "You play piano," it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," I said, looking at him, "I do."

"Yeah, I heard my mother tell my father. Your mother told her. The reason she's paying for your clothes is probably because she'll ask you to play for whoever they invite over, so she sees it as an even transaction. You get to go home with some nice, expensive dress clothes and in turn, you help charm some potential clients by being the talented exchange student they're hosting, which reflects well on them."

I looked at him but he was looking ahead. We got to the mall and parked outside an Apple store. I didn't even want to look at the phones. He sensed my discomfort and just bought one quickly. Next, we drove to a cell phone place where it was activated. I was surprised when he asked the cellphone number to be changed. The woman asked what number he would like and he let her know.

Once we were outside he handed me an iPhone 7 plus and a business card with the number written on it. "Our numbers are the same except for the last digit. Yours ends with an 8 and mine with a 9. That way you'll always remember by number," I looked at him, he was smiling. Another genuine smile. "My number is already saved in there, as well as my parent's numbers."

"Thank you," I said taking it. We walked to his car and got inside. "So do you often play babysitter to the exchange students your parents host?" I asked glancing his way.

He looked at me, "No," he said. "The last two we had only did five months and they came a week before school started. I only interacted with them over winter break."

I nodded. I didn't want to read anything into him showing me around. If it was the other way around and he was staying with us in Italy, I know I'd be more than happy to show him around.

 

We drove to a Saks Fifth Avenue and walked inside. A pretty, young woman asked what we needed and started helping me pick out clothes. She was clearly trying to flirt with Oliver, but he seemed not to pay the advances any attention. I tried on several things. I would come out of the dressing room and showed them everything. Oliver always had the final say on whether we would take something or not though.

At one point she said, "Everything looks so good on you!" I smiled politely. "I think it's your hair," she said smiling at me.

"That and his European charm," Oliver said from behind me. I saw his reflection smiling at me in the mirror from behind me. I chuckled and shook my head. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me or her. I felt my neck and face grow hot and looked down at the floor. Once several things had been picked out and they were fitted, we left.

Oliver asked me if I was hungry and I nodded and we went to get something to eat. He drove us to a California Pizza Kitchen. I was feeling more relaxed now. We had decided to eat outside and had been chatting throughout the whole meal. It was amazing how easy it was to talk to him. I sometimes had a hard time finding people closer to my age than my parent's age to engage in conversation the way I could with Oliver. We talked about everything and nothing. There wasn't a moment of silence between us.

 

After a pleasant lunch, we drove back home. We went upstairs and I hung the garment bags in my closet. I had gotten three suits and ties and four dress shirts, all picked out by Oliver. It seemed a bit excessive, but said nothing because I felt there was no point in rehashing the conversation we had had this morning. I heard his bathroom door open and close and the shower turn on. I went and sat on the edge of my bed. I had a sudden mental image of Oliver in the shower. I shook my head and laid back in bed.

What the hell was going on with me? I had flirted with girls, had kissed them and found them attractive. I remembered the week before I left when Marzia and I had been walking around town and I told her I was going to spend the summer in the States. She had kissed me and I had hoped we would do more, but we only went for a night swim, where she had made me turn around while she undressed. I sighed and remembered again, last summer and the guy from the theater. I had said no because I was, honestly, scared. He was attractive. I never though, had ever had an attraction as the one I felt when I saw Oliver. Not even with a girl.

I took off my shoes and pulled off my shirt, throwing it on the floor. I crawled on the bed and laid on my stomach and closed my eyes. I could still hear the soft sound of the shower going. I let myself picture Oliver showering, water dripping on his long, lean body. I imagined him getting out of the shower and drying himself off, wrapping his towel around his waist. I imagined him opening my door and walking into my room, with nothing on but his towel. I imagined me turning over on my back and looking up at him. Him, laying on top of me, holding my hands down, his lips so close to mine.

"Fuck," I said, as I felt how hard I was. I took one pillow and put it over my head. What the _hell_ was going on with me?

 

 "Elio," it was a soft whisper. "Elio," I blinked. I saw Oliver, sitting at the edge of my bed. Was I dreaming? I pushed myself up and turned to my side. He smiled at me, a genuine smile. "Sorry to bother you," he said, raising his eyebrows, "but dinner will start soon and you're expected to join us," he said. His voice was soft, not much louder than a whisper, as if he didn't want anyone to know he was in here with me. His blue eyes sparkling.

"Oh, yes of course," I said as I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

Oliver scooted back, put some pillows up against the headboard and leaned back on them. He put his hands behind his head and smiled at me. I smiled back. "I tried texting you and you didn't answer, that's why I came in here."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. There were two text messages from him. "Hey" 20 minutes ago and "Hey, you up?" from 10 minutes ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said.

"It's ok," he said smiling. He looked at me a couple of seconds. "Your voice still sounds sleepy," he said softly. I looked at him. He had changed, he was now wearing a bright blue polo, which made his eyes look even brighter, and slim fitting khakis. They hugged his legs just right. He was barefoot. God I even loved the way his feet looked. I ran my hands through my hair and cleared my throat. He smiled at me again, "You should change for dinner," he said.

"I should?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Ok," I said. I got up. "What should I wear?"

"Did you bring any other pants apart from jeans?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I would have to iron them, they're at the bottom of my suitcase."

"Yeah, I figured," he said reaching down the side of the bed. He lifted up a bag that said EXPRESS on it.

"What's this?" I said.

"Well, yesterday before dinner, I came to see how you were doing but you were passed out and I felt bad waking you, so I didn't. I did take off your shoes though, because it's not cool having your shoes on in bed, you know." He looked at me, lifting his eyebrows.

"I was wondering how my shoes got there. Thank you," I said. "And sorry, I didn't mean to pass out when I did. I was just so tired," I rubbed the back of my neck.

"No problem," he said. "Anyway, I ended up going to the mall and I got you some things," he looked at me. I could tell he was anticipating my reaction. "Take a look," he said, gesturing to the bag.

I couldn't help but smile. He had checked up on me, taken off my shoes and then had thought of me and had... bought me clothes.

"Is this an American thing? You gift foreign exchange students a bunch of clothes?" I asked chuckling as I opened up the bag and took a pair of khakis out.

"Only the ones that look good in everything," he said smiling widely at me. I held up the pants and looked at his. "They're the same ones," he said, running his hand down his thigh. "They're stretch,  _super_ comfortable. Put them on! You'll thank me once you feel them."

"Ok," I said. Oliver didn't move. I suddenly realized he was waiting for me to take my jeans off and put the khakis on right now. That was fine with me. I undid my jeans, sliding them past my hips and thighs. They dropped to the floor and kicked them aside. My shirt was already off, so there I was, wearing nothing but my boxers in front of Oliver. But this is what he wanted, right? I put the khakis on, they fit like a glove. I walked around to his side of the bed and looked at myself on the stand up mirror. "They look good," I said nodding.

"I knew they would," he said getting up, walking to my bathroom door and turned to face me, "There's some shirts in there too. I'll see you downstairs in a few. Later!" and just like that he walked through my bathroom door and shut it behind him.


	4. Liebestraum

I looked into the bag, there were three shirts inside. One was a red and white plaid long sleeved  button up. I put it on and rolled up the sleeves, as well at the bottom of my pants. I slipped on my white leather adidas and ran my hands through my hair.

I went downstairs. I saw Hugh and Katherine sitting in the living room. I didn't see Oliver.

"Ah, hello Elio," Katherine said. "Come join us, we didn't have much time to talk this morning."

I went over and sat with them. They started asking me about myself and life in Italy. I told them about my father being a professor, our Villa in Italy, our home in France. They were surprised when I told them I spoke French as well. I told them about my love for reading and music. Katherine asked me what I wanted to study and I said I wanted to major in music. I went into more detail about my piano playing.

"Oh, would you play for us?" She asked,

"I would be happy to," I said.

I got up and sat at the piano bench. As I sat I saw Oliver coming down the stairs. I wanted to impress him. "Was there anything in particular you'd like me play?" I asked Katherine.

"Oh, please, play whatever you'd like to play," she said as Oliver walked across the entrance hallway and into the living room.

I nodded. I closed my eyes and started playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I was so proud when I mastered this piece. I loved playing it, and I thought it would be a good way to impress Oliver.

Once it was over, Katherine and Hugh burst into applause. I looked up and saw Oliver was clapping and smiling. Katherine looked at him, "Wasn't that amazing?" she asked.

"It really was. You should play professionally and travel the world." He smiled at me, sliding his hands into his pocket.

"Was that Liszt?" Katherine asked.

"Yes, I answered, "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2."

"You're so talented! And so young, not even 18!" She said.

I didn't want to talk about me being so young. I glanced at Oliver but he had taken a seat, ankle crossed at the knee and had his ever present phone in his hand. He looked like something out of the pages of GQ. "I'll be 18 at the end of this year," I said quickly.

 

Rose started serving dinner and we all got up and made our way to the dining room. I was surprised when Oliver sat beside me. 

"Elio, thank you again for playing for us," Katherine said.

"No problem, Katherine," I said smiling. I was overjoyed to be this close to Oliver. He was even leaning towards me, out of the corner of my eye I could see he was leaning his elbow on the armrest of the dining room chair.

"Please, call me Kat," she said smiling. "Hugh and I would really appreciate it if maybe when we had a possible client over for dinner, if you would be gracious enough to play for them as well."

"Of course,” Oliver said softly, letting out a breath. Katherine gave him an icy stare.

"It would be my pleasure," I told her.

She gave me a quick glance but turned her attention back to Oliver. "Something on your mind, son?" she asked.

"Nope," he said.

I could see the anger in her face. "Maybe, Elio, you can talk some sense into my wonderful son," she said looking at me. "He is convinced he wants a PhD in  _philosophy_ ," she said it as if it was a dirty word. "But I told him, if he was going to put all that time and effort into a PhD, why not be a  _real_ doctor. Or he could be a lawyer, like his successful father," she patted Hugh's hand. "No need to have all that brilliant intelligence go to waste."

"Here we go," Oliver said. I turned to look at him. He was still leaning towards me so our faces were less than a foot apart, He had an eyebrow raised and his face actually looked pretty relaxed but I could see the anger as he squinted his eyes slightly, glanced at Kat, then looked back at me. "I actually thought she may wait until at least tomorrow to bring this up, but I guess not. Welcome to the family," he said, flashing me a smile.

I felt my heart pound in my chest. This never happened in my home. I stared at the painting behind Kat on the wall, not sure what else to do.

"Enough!" Hugh said, with authority in his voice.  Oliver sat up straight in his chair and Kat took a sip of her wine. "Please," he said more gently, "Elio is here for a full year and we want to make it a pleasant one. Now Elio," he directed his gaze towards me, "you're in Northern Italy?"

"Yes," I answered.

"How wonderful, please, tell me more about it. I've never been north of Rome."

I obliged. The rest of the dinner was pretty normal, Kat seemed to have calmed down and Oliver looked relaxed. Although Oliver stayed mostly quiet, I was pleased when he would ask me question along with his parents, it was wonderful to look to my right and see him looking my way. I noticed he never once took his phone out of his pocket, which to me meant he was paying attention to the conversation at the dinner table which was mostly centered around me. Although I wanted to ask him about himself, I didn't want to risk the chance of Katherine becoming angry again, so I told myself I'd ask him more about himself some other time.

 

Once dinner was over, Kat and Hugh told us they were meeting some friends for drinks and left.

Oliver walked towards the living room and probably noticed my slight look of surprise. "You'll realize they actually don't spend much time at home, take it as a blessing in disguise,” he said, sitting down on an arm chair, crossing his ankle over his leg again and dusting something off his pant leg. He leaned his left elbow on the arm rest and stroked his chin with this index finger. He motioned to the couch across from him and I sat down. "Do you play piano because you were made to by your parents or because you love to?"

I had never been asked that before. "Well, I started playing young, we've always had pianos and my mother said she would sit me on her lap and let me bang the keys around," I said smiling. "I was quite young though, when I realized I truly enjoyed it. My parents never quite pushed me, I pushed myself to be honest. I love music, I need music. It speaks for me when words are not enough," I said.

"You play beautifully," he said.

"Thank you," I replied. 

"Would you mind playing again?" he asked me.

I was overjoyed. I smiled and got up, "I'd love to," I said. I went and sat at the piano again. He got up and came to stand beside the piano. "Is there anything in particular you'd like me to play?" I asked looking up at him. I could feel my heart pounding, but it was a good nervous excitement.

"Surprise me," he said with a shrug of his shoulder and a half smile.

I nodded and took a deep breath. There were many pieces I knew, but at this moment only one came to mind. Liebestraum. I started playing. The song carried me away and I closed my eyes. My chest felt full of emotion, but I let the music do the talking. I let the song express how beautiful his eyes looked, how stunning his smile was. I knew he didn't know this is what I was thinking, but I didn't care. He was here and I was playing solely for him and I could let all this out. My chest felt lighter as I felt the emotion flow from my chest, into my arms and out of my fingertips. Playing this was enough for me right now, I was happy.

The song came to an end. I looked up at him and stretched my arms out in front of me. I smiled tentatively. "Wow," he said softly, looking down at me. He had a genuine smile on his face. "That was beautiful."

"Thank you," I said.

He walked towards the couch and sat down. I got up and sat beside him. He put his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back, hands behind his head. "I don't know if I've ever heard that before, what's it called?" he asked me.

"Oh... that gorgeous piece of work was Liebestraum No. 3," I said. "It's Liszt as well."

"Liebestraum. Is that German?"

"Yes, it means Love Dream. The original three Liebesträume were lieder to poems that depicted three different kinds of love. The poem for Liebestraum No. 3 is by Ferdinand Freiligarth and is about unconditional love," I said.

He nodded. "Love Dream," he said quietly. We sat in silence for a moment. It wasn't an awkward silence, on the contrary, it felt very comfortable. 

After a moment he looked at his watch, "It's not too late, wanna watch a movie?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said with a smile.

We got up and turned, the painting in the dining room caught my eye again. I walked into the dining room to look at it closer, Oliver followed me. "Égalité Devant la Mort," I said. "William Bouguereau."

"Yes," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Say the name of the painting again."

"Égalité Devant la Mort," I repeated, looking at him and smiling, the comment about how nice my French sounded came to mind again. He wasn't looking at me though, he was looking at the painting.

"I've never heard the name said by someone who was fluent in French before," he said. "Equality Before Death. He painted it in 1848," he said.

"It was his first major piece of art, he was only 23 when he painted it," I added.

"Yes, that's correct," he said smiling at me. "Do you know where the original work is?" he asked with a half smile on his face, as if he was challenging me.

"Musée d'Orsay," I said with a smile on my face and swaying side to side.

He punched me lightly on the right arm and shook his head. "Ok, ready for the movie?" I nodded.

 

We walked out of the dining room to the end of the hallway where the pool table was. Oliver turned on the lights. It was a large room, the pool table was right in the middle. To the left was a wall with several family photos. Numerous pictures of Oliver throughout the years were hanging. Past that was a bar. There were French doors on the wall adjacent, with the same see through curtains as the ones on the French doors in the kitchen. I could see the pool outside, the sun was just beginning to set. Beside the doors was a stereo and a record player on a shelf above it and an acoustic guitar. I picked it up and strummed it. I was horribly out of tune. I walked to the couch beside the room entrance and started tuning it.

"A classical musician  _and_ a rock star?" Oliver said. "The girls in Italy must be throwing themselves at you."

"Ha ha," I laughed. I felt my face grow hot. "No," I said shaking my head.

"No?" he said. "Well, the girls here most probably will. All that and your European charm. What's not to like?"

I looked up at him. That was the second time he had said that. I thought when he had mentioned the European charm thing he was poking fun at me. It didn't sound like that now. Did he think I had charm? I put the guitar down, suddenly feeling shy.

"Oh, you can keep playing if you want," he said.

"I have all year to play," I said, getting up.

He nodded and turned to the wall behind him. It had a huge shelf unit. The part closest to the couch was books, the middle was DVDs and the side closest to the stereo was CDs and vinyl records.

I looked through the DVDs and picked out a few I liked. I narrowed it down to two and held them up to him. "I'll be happy watching either one," I said.

He raised his eyebrows. "Wuthering Heights and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Great choices," he said smiling. "Have you read the books?" he asked me as we started walking back to the kitchen.

"Yes, both. Each, more than once."

He nodded. "We'll watch Wuthering Heights, we can watch Dorian Gray tomorrow." Oliver walked to the seating area and loaded the DVD. "Want some popcorn?" he asked. I nodded. He walked to the kitchen and started making it. I sat on one of the island stools and watched him as he did. "Did you read Wuthering Heights at school?" he asked me.

"No, I read it because I like to read." I said.

He nodded as he poured the popcorn into a bowl. "Grab some waters from the fridge, will ya?" he asked me.

I walked to the fridge and grabbed a couple of water bottles and walked to the seating area. He had his feet up on the coffee table with the bowl of popcorn on his lap. I held out a bottle of water, his fingers grazed mine as he grabbed it. He picked up the remote control and put the movie on. "Help yourself," he said looking at the tv. I imagined he meant the bowl of popcorn which was still on his lap. 

I scooted closer to him so I could reach the popcorn. Did he do this on purpose? I didn't care. I liked sitting this close to him. We watched the movie mostly in silence. We would comment here and there about it. I had great fun watching it. When it was over, Oliver clapped, which I found endearing.

He cleaned up the bowl of popcorn and turned off the lights downstairs. We climbed up the stairs. He reached his door, put his hand on the doorknob and looked at me as I walked by. I smiled at him, hands in my pockets.

The sound of the front door opening came from downstairs. His parents were home. He smiled at me as he walked into his room and shut the door quietly. I walked into my room and stepped inside, closing my door quietly as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter, I actually saw I could add links but wasn't sure if I could add YouTube links to the story, if I can, one of you lovely people please let me know!
> 
> OK: to hear the first song Elio plays, please go to YouTube and watch Valentina Lisitsa play Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2  
> For the second song: look up Tiffany Poon playing Liebestraum No. 3  
> The work of art was Equality Before Death by William Bouguereau.  
> Also, Elio and Oliver watched the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights


	5. Distance

I walked into my room and looked at my bathroom door. It was slightly ajar. I left it like that. I undressed and put on some lounge pants. I heard Oliver go into the bathroom. He used the toilet and brushed  his teeth. He went back into his room. I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I looked at his door. It was shut.

I walked back into my room, again closing the door but leaving it slightly ajar. I got on the bed and grabbed my phone, I had left it charging. It was 8:40 am in Italy.

I texted my mom: "Bonne nuit à moi et bounjor à toi. Passez une bonne journée. Je t'aime xx" 

I laid back down on the bed and wondered if maybe I should read before going to sleep or listen to music. I decided on music. I got up and grabbed my headphones from my desk when I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. Must be my mom texting me back.

I got back on the bed and plugged up my headphones. I turned off my beside lamp and looked at the home screen. It was a text, but it was from Oliver.

My heart skipped a beat.

"You up?" it said.

I smiled and shook my head. "Maybe" I replied.

"Ha ha" he replied, another message followed soon after: "I was impressed by your two movie choices. I'm glad we watched it, Wuthering Heights. I hadn't watched it in a while. It's the best film version of the book, I believe"

"I agree" I texted back.

"I've also seen the version with Ralph Fiennes in it. Have you?"

"I have" I texted, then wrote: "I like the 1939 version more thought"

A moment went by and he didn't answer so I figured he was done. I put on YouTube and was browsing some music when I saw he texted me again.

"What's your favorite line from the movie?" 

I thought for a moment. "Well, its slightly different in the film from the book. I like the wording from the book better" I texted back.

"Ok, tell me" came the quick reply.

I started typing. I knew this by heart. "He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

I hit send and put the phone face down on my stomach. My heart was pounding a little bit. It suddenly felt as if it was me saying it to him. I felt my phone vibrate. I picked it up.

"If all else perished and he remained, I should still continue to be, and if all else remained, and we were annihilated, the universe would turn into a mighty stranger" he texted back. A big smile spread across my face. He knew it too then. I liked that.

"He's always, always on my mind; not as a pleasure to myself, but as my own being." I typed and hit send.

I closed my eyes and put my phone down again. I shouldn't read too much into this. I shook my head. I couldn't help it. He had bought me clothes, then asked me to watch a movie. It could just be him being friendly though.

I remembered he had said that last year they had hosted a boy from France, but he said my French sounded better, maybe it was my voice, he had said. Did he like my voice? I felt butterflies in my stomach. Tonight he had said he had never heard someone who was fluent in French say Égalité Devant la Mort. It meant last year's French boy and him never spoke about art. Maybe I was more interesting than French boy. At least that's what I wanted to believe and I was happy believing it.

I felt my phone vibrate. Another text message. I looked. "Good night Elio" I smiled.

"Good night Oliver" I texted back. I closed my eyes and put a song I loved relaxing to. I was sleep in no time.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Friday, I got up and was in a great mood. I showered and dressed and went downstairs. I waved at Rose as I walked by. 

There was Oliver, looking perfect again, only difference was this time he had a book in his hands instead of his phone. His mother was at the head of the table, Hugh wasn't around. As I sat down in front of him I saw he was reading Wuthering Heights. That,  _obviously_ , made me smile.

"Elio, I was wondering if you would like to come down to the stables today," Kat said. "I'm a riding instructor and I would love to show you the basics."

I glanced at Oliver. He was reading the book and didn't seem to be paying the conversation between Kat and I any attention.

"Sure," I said with a smile. "I've never ridden a horse before," I said.

"That's no problem at all," she said smiling. "I have some riding boots that I'm sure will fit you. I'll have them ready for you when you come down to the stables. Why don't you come at about ten? I have a student that's also a senior at your high school this year. You can meet her as well."

"Ok," I said nodding. I noticed Oliver glanced her way.

"Wonderful," she said. She seemed quite pleased.

Oliver closed the book and got up from the table. "Later!" he said and walked back into the house. I felt confused. Last night when we had texted, everything seemed fine.

Kat and I had polite conversation until we were both done eating and I walked back upstairs to my room. I walked into the bathroom and walked to Oliver's bathroom door. I stood there for a few seconds but didn't hear anything. I looked at my watch, 9:20 am.

I shook my head and walked back into my room. I caught sight of the EXPRESS bag on the floor. I felt like kicking it. I shook my head and put my headphones on and listened to Frank Ocean until it was time for me to go.

 

I made my way down to the stables. When Kat saw me she waved. There was a pretty brunette with her. I waved back.

"Elio, this is Hannah," she said, introducing me to her. Hannah was about my age, dressed in a white button up shirt, tan riding pants and black riding boots. Her dark brown hair was up in a sleek pony tail.   

"Pleasure to meet you," she said, giving me a smile and extending her hand.

"Likewise," I said, shaking her hand. They were so soft.

"I have the riding boots inside, come on," Kat said. Hannah and I walked behind her. 

"Kat says you're Italian?" Hannah asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"That's awesome, I've been to Spain but no where else in Europe. I'd love to travel it all though," she said, giving me a smile. "You must teach me some Italian," she said, reaching for my arm.

"Of course," I said smiling back.

We made it in and Kat handed me the riding boots. They fit me perfectly. She also handed me an equestrian helmet.

"I'll get Daisy ready for him," I heard Oliver's voice say from behind me. My stomach jumped. I turned around. He looked  _wonderful_. Light blue button up long sleeved shirt, black riding pants with a brown belt and brown riding boots. I let out a ragged breath. God, that physique.

"Wonderful idea," Kat said smiling. 

I looked at Hannah, I think she had the same reaction I did. He entered a stall and I walked towards him. I was so happy he was there. I watched him as he got the horse ready. He then started walking her out of the stall. "Come on," he said looking at me. I smiled and nodded. I followed him outside.

Once outside he turned to me and said, "She's an 18 year old Tobiano Paint horse. She's extremely smart and friendly and does really well with first time riders."

"She's so beautiful," I said, looking up at her.

"Yeah, she is," he said looking at her with a loving expression. "I got her when I was eight and my mom asked me what I wanted to name her. I said Cow because of her black and white pattern," he said. We both chuckled. "Eventually, I decided to call her Daisy Cow and now it's just Daisy," he said.

His mom came over and started teaching me the basics. I saw Oliver walk back into the stables. I mounted Daisy and Kat started telling me how to go and stop. I saw Oliver come out. He was on a beautiful gray horse with a black mane. 

I swallowed and looked back down at Kat, focusing on her. I started practicing how to walk and stop. We practiced it a bit. She then let me walk with Daisy. I looked towards Oliver again. I watched as he and his horse cleared a jump. It was a beautiful sight.

Kat then began to teach me how to turn left and right. I focused on what I was doing. Soon after Hannah joined me. "You're a natural," she said with a smile. I smiled back at her.

She started walking beside me with her horse and giving me pointers. She turned her horse and asked me to turn mine as well and I did. She beamed at me. We did that several times and when I looked up and looked around I saw Oliver had gone.

We continued riding for a while longer. Finally, Kat came over and told me I had done great. She showed me how to dismount. I thanked her and she told me to keep the helmet and boots for the next lesson. I got my shoes and walked back to the house. I took my boots off before going in and walked to my room barefoot.

I got in the shower and changed.

I laid in bed and re read the texts between Oliver and I from last night before. I wondered why he was so distant today.

I got hungry and went downstairs. Rose was serving lunch. Kat and Hannah were outside, sitting at the glass table. We had lunch together. Oliver never showed. Hannah and I exchanged numbers before she left. Kat told me she would see me at dinner.

I went back up to my room. I Skyped home and talked to my parents. It was great to see them. We said good bye and I took off my shoes and laid in bed. I was really tired. I set my alarm clock for 5:30 pm just to make sure I didn't over sleep. I closed my eyes and fell sleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies, in case anyone is wondering: I pictured when Elio was going to sleep he was listening to Somewhere Only We Know by Keane


	6. King Oliver

I woke up. There was a bird chirping loudly outside my window. I grabbed my phone and looked at the time, 3:34 pm. I sighed. I got up and stretched. I walked to the bathroom to use the toilet. Again, complete silence from Oliver's room.

I remembered the room downstairs, the guitar and all the books. I went downstairs. I passed the kitchen and saw Rose cooking. I walked to the end of the hallway. I decided to finish tuning the guitar first. Maybe I'd grab some books to read afterwards. I started playing Bach and had been for a while when I heard my phone chime in my pocket. My heart leaped, maybe it was him. I took it out of my pocket quickly. It was Hannah.

"It was so great meeting you :) maybe we can catch a movie or something soon"

I sighed and put it back in my pocket. I felt absolutely ridiculous for wanting it to be him. We've just met. I obviously was boring or something. I shook my head. Whatever. I went back to my music playing. I was practicing Air on the G String. I wanted to perfect it on the guitar. I had been doing this for a moment when Kat walked into the room. She smiled at me. "Time for dinner," she said.

I smiled and nodded and joined her and Hugh at the dinner table. There was polite conversation and Kat mentioned to Hugh that I also played the guitar.

"I'm self taught," I told them, "no big deal." 

"It's not something everyone can do though, son," he smiled at me. "All talent is a big deal, give yourself some credit." I smiled at his warm words.

Dinner came to an end and Oliver never showed. Kat asked me if I wanted something for dessert, I politely decline. I asked her if it would be alright if I took the guitar up to my room, she said yes. I excused myself, went and got the guitar and ran up to my room.

 

I strummed it a bit. I started playing Air from the beginning again. After a while I noticed my room was getting darker. I got up and turned on the lights. I took off my shirt and jeans and sat on my bed in my boxers and picked up the guitar again. I kept practicing. I was almost done working the song out. I had lost track of time when I noticed my bathroom door open. It was him. I felt a sudden sense of relief, followed by a sudden surge of anger. I kept playing.

He walked into my room and from the corner of my eye I saw him move my clothes and sit at the foot of the bed. My clothes, I thought, suddenly realizing I was in nothing but my boxers. Whatever, he'd already seen me in just my boxers before. I sighed and kept playing. I didn't look at him. I slowly finished the song. I laid my arm across the side of the guitar.

"Hey," he said casually as if nothing was wrong. Hmm, maybe to him nothing was.

"Hi," I replied, still looking straight ahead.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that he looked at his watch. This annoyed me.

"You late for something?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Just checking the time. It's 9:15," he said casually as if I had asked.

I sighed and finally looked his way. I shouldn't have. There were those blue eyes. Any ounce of anger I felt melted away. He looked down at his hands, I noticed he was holding a bag. He stretched his arm out and held it out for me. I reached for it and took out the book that was inside of it. "The Classical Guitar Compendium," I read out loud. "Thank you," I said as I put it down beside me on the bed. I suddenly felt it was a 'sorry for being a jerk and ignoring you all day and not coming to dinner' token. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

He nodded. "So, it's not too late," he said. "Wanna watch Dorian Gray?"

"Maybe tomorrow," I said with a shrug and a shake of my head. I regretted it the second I said it. I looked him in the eyes again. I wanted to spend time with him but I was also feeling hurt. I was a mix of emotions. "How bout I play for you?" I said with a small smile.

He smiled at me and nodded. "Play what you were playing before."

I nodded and started playing it from the beginning. Most of it was perfect and I played it in tempo. I got to the part at the end that I had still been practicing and I slowed down. "Sorry, I was still figuring it out," I said.

"Figuring it out?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can play it on piano, today I started playing it on guitar."

"Can you play any song you hear just by hearing it?" he asked me.

"On the piano, yeah, pretty much," I said.

I looked at him and thought he looked impressed. I smiled at him. The song finished. He sat silently beside me. This felt good. I loved being with him. I had hated that he had been so distant all day. Why? Had I angered him? I pushed those thoughts away. It didn't matter. He was here now. I wanted to enjoy this.

"Know any Radiohead?" he asked me. I chuckled and started playing my favorite song of theirs. "That's my favorite," he said with a smile.

"Mine too," I said looking at him as I strummed. I wasn't much of a singer but this song wasn't too hard to sing. "Wake from your sleep, the drying of your tears, today, we escape, we escape." I sang softly. We laughed and smiled. "I can't sing for shit," I said.

"Shut up, keep going," he said. 

I nodded and kept strumming. I sang again, "Pack and get dressed before your father hears us, before all hell breaks loose." 

I was about to stop when he said, "I love this part."

"Breathe, keep breathing, don't lose your nerve," I somewhat sang, shaking my head and being all dramatic. I loved that he was enjoying this. He laughed. "Breathe, keep breathing, I can't do this alone." I looked at him. He was still smiling.

"Man, too bad there aren't any drums," he said. I stopped strumming. "No! Keep going!" he said, "You can't stop now, those lyrics at the end are the best!"

I started strumming again and closed my eyes, "You can laugh, a spineless laugh, we hope your rules and wisdom choke you," I sang with theatrical intensity, shaking my head and the guitar. He laughed again. "And now! We are one! In everlasting peace, we hope that you choke, that choke!" I opened my eyes and looked at him. I loved the big smile on his face. 

He clapped. "That was awesome," he said. "Your singing wasn't that bad, plus, the coolest guys on the band are always the guitarists anyway," he said with a half smile.

I nodded, "Slash, The Edge, Kirk Hammett."

"Eddie Van Halen, Joe Perry, Brian May," he said smiling and laying back on my bed.

"Jimmy Page!" we said together. We laughed. 

"Favorite Zeppelin song?" he asked looking up at me.

"Battle of Evermore," I said.

He nodded, "I love it too, the lyrics read like a poem," he said looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah and the fact that its about The Lord of the Rings makes it even better," I said smiling. "Did you like those movies?"

"Yeah! Are you kidding me? They were awesome," he said. "I had a moment where I would ride my horse and pretend that I was Aragorn in Return of the King," he said. I chuckled and looked down at him, picturing him with a crown and sitting on a throne. I smiled at the thought. King Oliver. He looked the part.

"Would you like to go to the beach with me tomorrow?" his question pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked down at him, he was looking up at me.

"Yes," I said.

"Great," he smiled and looked back up at the ceiling. "We can leave after we eat breakfast."

"We could watch Dorian Gray after dinner tomorrow too," I said looking down at him.

"Depends on what time we get back," he said. "If we end up having dinner out and are back late we could watch it Sunday." I nodded. It sounded like he was planning on spending the whole day with me tomorrow. He sat up on the bed. "Do you know how to play Sailing?"

"Christopher Cross, yeah I do, that song is awesome," I said as I picked up my guitar. "Don't ask me to sing that one though," I said.

He chuckled, "No, I won't."

I started playing. I saw him close his eyes and I could faintly hear him humming. He sighed when the song was over. "I've always liked the lyrics to that song," he said.

"Me too," I said. "Seems like we like a lot of the same things," I said strumming random chords.

He sat up and looked at his watch. "I should let you sleep," he said. I nodded. He got up and walked to my bathroom door. He turned to look at me, "Good night Elio."

"Good night, Oliver."

He walked through and closed the door but left it ajar.

I sighed and got up. I laid the guitar on the bed and picked up the book he gave me. I put it on my desk. I grabbed my headphones and took my phone out of my pant's pocket on the bed. I suddenly remember Hannah's text. 

"Sure, sound fun" I texted back. 

I looked at the time, it was 10:19 pm. He had been with me for an hour and it felt like it had been barely a few minutes. I sighed, plugged my headphones in, turned off my light and got in the bed.

I was about to put music on when a text from Oliver made my phone vibrate.

"Just a wind and a dream to carry me and soon I will be free" I smiled as I read it. Another one came. "Thank you, I truly love the lyrics to that song"

"Anytime and thank you for the book" I texted back.

I found Sailing on YouTube and closed my eyes. I was sleep before the song ended.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies!  
> Air on the G String is not a typical song that's played on the guitar but there is a lovely video on YouTube by the Los Angeles Guitar Academy, give it a listen :)
> 
> The Radiohead song Elio plays is Exit Music (lovely song) that was on the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, and I felt our star crossed lovers would enjoy it!
> 
> The Led Zeppelin song they talked about was the Battle of Evermore
> 
> As for Sailing by Christopher Cross, the cover Boyce Avenue play is the one I had in mind as I wrote this!
> 
>  Thank you for reading and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	7. Sicilienne

I woke up the next day feeling excited. I got up and showered. I put on my white jeans and one of my favorite tee shirts. It had a drawing of a red skull with a black raven sitting upon it, a melted down candle on the side. I slipped on my white adidas shoes. I exited my room and descended down the stairs quickly. I walked through the kitchen, greeted Rose and stepped out of the French doors. Hugh and Oliver were there.

"Morning," I said smiling.

"Ah, morning Elio. How did you sleep?" Hugh asked.

"Very well, thank you," I said.

"Oliver, did you know Elio plays the guitar as well?" Hugh asked him looking his way. 

"Yeah he had started to tune the guitar the other night," Oliver said looking down at his phone.

"You should ask him to play for you sometime, I heard a bit of him playing, he's quite good," Hugh said.

I bit my lip and looked at Oliver. He nodded and looked at me, sliding his sunglasses up on his head. "Hey, you should play guitar for me sometime," he said, cocky half smile on his face. I felt my neck grow hot. I had to look away. I nodded. "So, we'll leave after you eat, what do say?"

"Yeah, sounds great," I said finding my voice again.

"Where are you two headed?" Hugh asked.

"I'm taking Elio to the beach," Oliver said.

"Oh that's wonderful," Hugh said looking at his watch. "Let Rose know with time if you won't make it back for dinner," he said folding his newspaper and laying it down on the table. "Kat and I won't be home for dinner, so no need to have her cook if no one will be home." He looked at us, "you two be safe and have fun," he said getting up.

"We will be, thank you," I said.

"Later!" Oliver called as Hugh walked through the doors.

 

Oliver and I looked at each other. He had a white button up shirt with small navy blue anchors on it. His glasses were still up on his head. He looked at my tee shirt and lifted his eyebrows. "Nevermore," he said nodding at it. I smiled. I remember thinking the same thing when I had bought it. "Is that your favorite Poe poem?" he asked me.

"Actually, no," I said, shaking my head.

"Which one is your favorite then?"

"Ah, its a tie actually between two. Whenever I think I like one more, I re read the other and can never decide," I said chuckling.

"Which ones?"

"Annabel Lee and Dream Within A Dream," I said.

"Is  _all_ we see or seem but a dream within a dream?" Oliver quoted.

"Sounds like it could be one of your philosophical questions," I said smiling at him.

He laughed. "It very well could be," he said. "And what is your opinion, Elio? Is all we see or seem but a dream within a dream?"

"Ha ha," I laughed. "Oh man, you're putting me on the spot here. I can't think," I said laughing and putting a hand to my chest.

"Oh, come on, goose, you like the poem so I'm sure you've given it a thought or two to what it means."

I nodded, I sat up on the chair and held out my right hand, as if I was reciting a soliloquy, I cleared my throat. He laughed at my theatrics. "Shhh," I said. "I'm trying to concentrate here," I said to him with a shake of my head.

"My apologies, please, continue Master Perlman," he said with a nod of his head and sweep of his hand.

I straighten up again and cleared my throat. I held out my  hand again as I looked off into the sky, "While I dream thee dream, you are my reality!" I stated. I saw Oliver lower his face and laugh into the back of his hand a bit as he watched me. "So, as long as thy dream is sweet and as long as thy dream is good and as long as thy dream fulfills the purest and deepest of hopes, passions and desires, then I shall be more than happy to exist in this dream within a dream." I said and bowed my head.

I looked up at Oliver and smiled. Oliver's expression had changed. He had been laughing as we had been joking around and he still had a smile on his face but his eyes had changed slightly. I couldn't quite read the expression on his face. Had I said something wrong? I suddenly felt a little nervous, I didn't know why.

He pushed his sunglasses down and took a sip of his orange juice. "Wow," he said, setting his glass down. "What a thing to say," he said as he put his elbow on the table and leaned on his hand, index finger up on the side on his face. He was facing my direction but he had his sunglasses on, so I didn't know what he was truly thinking. I shrugged, "Don't shrug as if what you said was nothing," he said calmly. I looked into his sunglasses. What was he thinking? "What you said was beautiful. Did you just think that up now?" he asked. I nodded, still unable to speak. "It's safe to say you're a romantic," he said. I couldn't quite decipher the tone to his voice either. 

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

"Oh no, its a beautiful thing," he said and smiled at me. He finally lifted up his glassed and leaned closer and looked at me. "Being a romantic is a beautiful and pure thing, I hope you never change deep down inside. I hope you guard it and protect it and don't let anything in this crazy world change it," he said. His voice sounded slightly wistful. I liked it though. I had never had anyone speak to me like that before. I was happy it was him. I suddenly felt a bit more freedom, like I could really be me. 

"Do moments ever sound like music to you?" I asked

He smiled at me, "What do you mean, romantic one?" he asked me smiling.

I chuckled, "I mean, are you ever in a moment and you look around and you see what you see and you feel what you feel and you know exactly what this moment sounds like," I said. I looked into his eyes. They were as blue as he sky behind him.

"What does this moment sound like, Elio?" 

I stood up and started walking to the French doors. I suddenly became aware he wasn't following me. " _Andiamo Americano!_ " I called out, "I'm not gonna hum it for you!" He gave me a huge grin and got up quickly from his chair.

 

I walked back in the house and smiled at Rose as I walked back in. I walked into the hallway and through the living room. I sat on the piano bench. I was happily surprised when he sat down beside me. This was the closest we had been. I heard the music in my head. I had only heard it played on cello but I wanted to play it for him now. I started playing it, slowly. It was a slow and beautiful piece, less than three minutes long, although since I took my time it was slightly longer now. When I finished playing I looked up at him.

"What was that?" he asked me in a soft voice. 

"Sicilienne by Maria Theresia von Paradis," I said. "She wrote it for the cello, well, I've only ever heard it played on cello, accompanied by either piano or violin."

"Play it again for me, please," he said. I did as he asked. It sounded better this time around, I made some slight improvements.

"Again," he said. I smiled and obliged. This time was also better. I let myself glance at him as I played and saw he had closed his eyes as I played.

"One last time, if you don't mind," he said softly.

"I don't mind at all," I said. I could do this forever, I thought myself. My last time was my best. My fingers remembered where to go and the whole piece was fluid.

I looked up at him when it was done. He looked at me. I suddenly became aware of how close we were, sitting on the piano bench together. "So that song is the soundtrack of the moment we had outside?" he asked me. I nodded slowly. He smiled. "How about last night though? You played me several songs last night."

"Oh, definitely Sailing," I said thinking of his text. "Every time I hear it now I'll think of last night," I said without really thinking before I spoke. I felt my cheeks grow warm the moment the words escaped my lips. I knew I was blushing and I knew he could see it.  _Fuck me_ , I thought.

"That's nice," he said casually. What's nice, Oliver? I felt like asking him, the song or the obvious physical effect you're having on me?

I started playing the beginning repetitive notes to The Battle of Evermore. I recalled our conversation last night when he told me he would ride his horse and pretend to be Aragorn.  _King Oliver_. I smiled at the memory. I would forever think of that whenever I heard this song. That was a memory I wasn't going to share with anyone else.

He smiled as he watched me play. "I could easily sit here all day and watch you play," he said looking up at me.

I smiled at him, I'd sit here all day and play for you if you asked, I thought to myself.

"Did you want to swim at the beach or just sight see?"

"Oh I definitely want to swim," I said looking up at him.

"Ok, let's go upstairs and get ready." 

We walked up the stairs and I walked into my room and put on my swimming trunks. I put clothes in my backpack to change into afterwards. I suddenly realized I didn't have a beach towel. At that moment Oliver walked into my room and saw my backpack. "Oh, awesome, mind if I put my clothes in there?" he asked.

"Yes, please," I said as I took his clothes for him and put them in my backpack. He walked back into his room and came back with sunscreen, beach towels and a beautiful blue serape blanket.

I threw my backpack on and we went downstairs and out the front door. I threw my back pack in the backseat and he threw the beach towels and blanket beside it. We climbed into the car.

"What is it that you said to me in Italian when you wanted me to come inside earlier?" he asked me sliding his sunglasses on.

I smiled at him as he turned the car on and backed out of the garage.  _"Andiamo Americano!"_ I called out as he laughed and we took off, driving through the gates towards the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies
> 
> The song I was referring to here: Sicilienne by Maria Theresia von Paradis is normally cello, you can find it on YouTube. There is also a version that is all piano played by a young lady named Lara Gwen. Have a listen!
> 
> Thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos! Can't wait to share more with you all!


	8. To Thine Own Self Be True

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies!
> 
> This chapter and the next few are from Oliver’s POV! I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> A big thank you to all the lovely comments and kudos! They warm my heart and are 1000% appreciated!

It was a quick drive to Leadbetter Beach. I grabbed the blanket and Elio put on his backpack and grabbed the beach towels.

We got to the sand, took off our shoes and walked out. I came early on purpose. It always got crowded by noon. I wanted to enjoy the beach just him and I. It wasn’t even ten so there was practically no one around. We slipped off our shirts and went out into the water.

Being out in the ocean felt great. I looked at Elio, his wet curls dripping water on him. I smiled. His lips looked lovely with water dripping from them. You could tell he was having fun. We swam and splashed around for over an hour. We finally tired and got out. We walked to our blanket. We dried off and I got the sunscreen I brought.

"Turn around," I told him. He obliged and I put some sun screen on my hand and slowly rubbed it on his back. I took my time. Once I was done he put some on mine. "Put some on your face too," I said as I dabbed some on his nose and cheeks. He laughed and rubbed it into his skin. I looked at the freckles on his nose.

We put our sunglasses on as we sat and looked out at the ocean. "We should come one morning and watch the sunrise," I said.

"Yes," he said. "We also need to watch the sunset and you need to take me to all the places you like," he said.

I smiled at him and nodded. I planned to, I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, getting to know him. "So did you like horse riding yesterday?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else but didn't. I wondered if he wanted to question me about disappearing yesterday.

 

I thought about yesterday. I had gone to Bubbe's house, well, my house now, because I had been taken aback by it all. I had wished Bubbe was there for me to talk to. I missed her greatly. I called the only two people I could talk to.

"Hello Love! How are you? I was actually about to call you, you caught us just in time, we're about to go camping and we're gonna be completely off the grid for two days!" I smiled at the warm, familiar voice.

"Glad I caught you then," I said.

"Hold on, here's Josh, I'm putting you on speaker," Christina said.

"Hey! Oliver! How's everything?"

"Good!" I said. I took a deep breath. "The exchange student came." I had to get this off my chest.

"Oh!" Christina exclaimed, "how is he? Better than the one from last year I hope?"

"Yeah, lots better," I said, trying to sound casual. "I actually picked him up at the airport."

Silence. "You did?" Josh asked sounding surprised. "That's... surprising. What made you want to do that?"

I took a deep breath. "Well, after last year with that kid always walking in on me brushing my teeth and trying to make conversation, I thought I should see who was coming since I'm there till I get Bubbe's place fixed up. They have their biographies online and when Kat decided on who, I took a look at his biography and the little thing he wrote on why he wanted to study abroad. He was... interesting, so I offered to go pick him up," I said.

I heard Christina giggle. "So in other words, he's  _cute_ _!_ " I smiled but didn't say anything. I was suddenly glad I was telling them this over the phone and not face to face. They knew me too well and would have called me out on my bullshit. "Tell me more! Quickly! We're leaving soon!" she said.

"He's a freaking musical genius! He recognized the Bouguereau in my dining room and when I said we should watch a movie, you know what he asked me to chose between? The 1939 version of Wuthering Heights and The Picture of Dorian Gray," I said rather quickly.

"Wow!" I heard them both say. I smiled widely. I felt better. Hearing them be surprised made it seem not so crazy that I had been impressed by him.

"So where is he now?" Josh asked.

"Riding Daisy, well, learning to," I replied.

"Why aren't you there charming him?" Christina said.

I just shook my head. How do I tell them? Because I already felt crazy about him? Because the intensity of my feelings frightened  me? Because I had never wanted to pursue someone so badly? Well, pursue anyone period! I was usually the one being pursued and it did great things for my ego. Because I was jealous of a teenage girl for spending time with him!?  _That_ was the worst. I couldn't believe it when I felt the hot burning inside my chest when I saw her riding beside him. I had to get out of there.

"Oliver?" Josh's voice came through.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, I mean, get to know him. See where it goes, man." he said.

"Yeah," I said quietly. That was a frightening thought, though.

"We love you man and we're here. Except for the next 48 hours. There is zero reception out there." he continued.

"Ok," I said.

"Ok, bye man!"

"Bye, Josh."

I was about to hang up when I heard Christina whisper, "Oliver!"

"Yeah?"

"Describe him," she said.

I laughed. "About 6', slender. Dark curly hair. It's a bit on the long side, it suits him so well. Hazel eyes, porcelain skin, nice lips," I said smiling.

She giggled again. I had known Christina since middle school. She had been the only person I had talked to about my attraction to men the summer before senior year. I had told Bubbe after I had finished high school. “Does he seem too good to be true?” she asked me. 

“Kinda,” I said.  _Fuck yes,_ I thought.

I heard her sigh. “I bet since you’re home it’s extra weird cause of your parents?”

”Yes,” I said, closing my eyes. “It’s actually really fucking stressful feeling an attraction for him when they’re right there. It’s a nightmare, Chris. It’s seriously fucking with my mind and you know how...” I trailed off.

”How you need to feel in control?” 

“You know it,” I sighed. 

“Well, get him out of the house! Take him sight seeing. Take him to the beach. Get to know him. Spend the whole day with him. You have the summer. Don’t hold back just because you can’t control all the feelings. You deserve all the happiness in the world and then some!” She said. 

I smiled. “Ok, thank you.”

”I’ll text you when we come back,” she said.

”Enjoy your honeymoon,” I said. 

“Totally am and will. Later!”

”Later!” I hung up.

I had then decided to go jogging to clear my head and spent the afternoon listening to records. I didn’t want to be there for dinner. My parents had never laid eyes on any of the guys that I had dated. The guys I dated... they seemed nothing compared to him. My parents being there was an extra level of complexity that I had never experienced. Once it was 7:30 pm I was ready to return and was feeling bad I had just run out on Elio like I did. I decided to stop by the mall and went into a music store. I had seen the guitar book and thought that might be something he would like. I hoped he wouldn’t be too mad.

I had never expected last night though, or this morning. He did everything right and just kept surprising me.

 

I looked at him now. “I love this beach,” I said and looked back out at the waves. “When I was younger my grandmother brought me here many times.”

”The one you inherited the house from?” Elio asked.

”Yes,” I said, smiling at him. “My Bubbe. She was wonderful. Loving. We came here a lot.” I said. And now I’ve brought you, I thought.

“I’m glad you brought me here, then,” he said smiling at me. He laid down on the blanket. The beach was beginning to fill up.

We chatted a while more. He turned over on to his stomach. He grabbed his beach towel and used it as a pillow. He smiled up at me as he relaxed.

It was comfortable just being with him. I liked that. Even sitting together in silence felt peaceful. I was lost in my own thoughts when I suddenly noticed the change in his breathing. I looked at him, he had drifted off to sleep. I let myself gaze at him. I looked at the dark curls falling over his face. I wish I could sweep them behind his ear. I looked at his slightly parted lips. As gorgeous as he was awake, sleeping he was even more so, angelic almost. This was the third time I had seen him sleep. It was as if the cosmos were conspiring against me, hitting me everywhere where I was weak when it came to him. I looked back out at the ocean. Or maybe it wasn’t a conspiracy, maybe the universe was showing me that he was meant to be mine. I smiled. Accept the things to which fate binds you, Aurelius had said. 

He was so young though. This was my biggest worry. I thought of me at seventeen. I was barely figuring myself out. I was still figuring things out now. How could I tie down someone who still had so much living to do? I shook my head and pushed those thoughts out of my head. I wanted to be in the present and enjoy right now.

I let him sleep a while. I didn’t want him to get sunburned though, so when I felt we had been there long enough, I woke him up.

I gently rubbed his back. “Hey,” I said softly.

”Yeah?” He rose up slightly.

”Apologies for disturbing your slumber, but I didn’t want you to get a nasty sunburn,” I told him. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, getting up on his knees.

”It’s ok,” I chuckled. “You look like an angel when you sleep,” I told him, looking at him. He blushed and looked away, smiling. I loved that reaction. I looked out at the ocean. He looked beautiful when he blushed. “So there is actually a really nice cafe right around here, we could have lunch there, if you’d like,” I said to him.

”Yeah, sounds good,” he said nodding.

 

We walked to the outdoor showers. After rinsing off, we went to the nearby bathrooms and changed into our clothes. We put the blanket, towels and his backpack in the trunk and walked to the Seashore Cafe.

We were seated outside. “What’s good here?” He asked.

”Everything,” I said.

”Then what if we order several things and share them?”

”Great idea,” I said. This seventeen year old was full of great ideas.

We did just that. We ate and talked and laughed. He talked about his home life a bit. His parents sounded very loving. I told him so. He agreed and said they were.

”How many books did you bring with you?” I asked him after we talked about his love of reading.

”Just a few,” he said. “The Odysse, Poems Of Paul Celan, The Heptameron, Armance, Hamlet, The Well Beloved, The Divine Comedy and The Telltale Heart And Other Stories.” He said. “I forgot The Iliad,” he said and saw that he was actually upset about this. I had to fix that.

”We’ll go to a bookstore after we’re done eating,” I said. “I want you to have The Iliad.”

”Oh, that’s ok, you don’t have to,” he said smiling and shaking his head. He was always so considerate. 

“I know,” I said, looking at him. “No one is making me, I want to.” He looked at me. “Plus, I’m driving, so you can’t say no,” I said smiling.

”Ha ha, good point,” he said laughing.

”The Heptameron?” I asked, thinking of the books he had listed.

”Yeah,” he said shrugging one shoulder slightly. “That was completely brought so I wouldn’t feel so homesick. My mom loves reading it to me and my dad. I brought it to feel closer to them,” he said, looking down at his food.

I studied his lovely face. “That sounds really nice,” I said softly. I wonder if we could do something like that.

“Yeah, it is,” he said smiling.

 

Once we were finished eating we walked back to the car and I drove to a bookstore I liked in the area. As I drove I thought of my favorite poet and thought I would buy him a book of his complete works. I thought of a poem of his that I loved. Maybe, one day, I could share it with him.

The drive was quick. We walked in and started browsing around. “Pick up anything else you want,” I said. He nodded. “I mean it,” I said. He laughed and nodded.

I went and grabbed the poetry book I wanted to get for him. After a while, he told me he had what he wanted. He had picked up The Iliad and The Complete Works Of Robert Frost. 

We left the bookstore and climbed back into the car. I handed him the bag. “Thank you,” he said softly.

”You’re welcome,” I said. “Maybe you can read The Iliad to me,” I said glancing at him. I hoped he wasn’t taken back by me saying that.

He smiled at me, “I would love to,” he said. 

I smiled to myself as I turned on my car and we took off.


	9. A Kingdom By The Sea

I drove to Stearns Wharf. We parked and got out. We started to walk the length of the pier first, taking our time. I looked out at the ocean. I called Rose and told her we wouldn't be home for dinner.

I loved seeing Elio's expression. His face was an open book and I loved it. We walked as I told him a bit about the place. The walk was peaceful and relaxing. While he was taking in the scenery, I couldn't keep my eyes off him. We finally started making out way back. We went into a store that had lots of souvenirs. I told him this was a great place to pick something up for his parents.

We walked to the spinning displays of the small license plates saying 'Santa Barbara' that had names on them. "I never find my name in those," he said with a chuckle.

"I feel ya," I said. "Oliver isn't unheard of, but let's just say it isn't Steven or Michael," I said laughing.

We took our time and looked at everything. I convinced him to let me buy him a Santa Barbara tee shirt. He had no idea the joy I felt in getting him things. I would give him everything if I could. I grabbed a couple of postcards when he wasn't looking. I had decided I'd buy postcards of all the places we went to this year. One set for him and one for me. I wanted to remember everything we did together.

There was so much to look at and the place had a second floor. After a while he picked up some things for his parents. Once we were done we walked to the cash register. "It's ok, I go it," I said.

He looked at me. "Let me at least pay for the stuff for my parents," he said. I nodded as he handed the lady at the counter some cash and I paid for the few other things we got.

We walked out. "The pier actually has several restaurants, but this is my favorite one," I said pointing to Moby Dick. "What do you say?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded.

 

We walked inside. The sun had shifted, it was around 6 pm. We were seated at a table overlooking the ocean.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I was being obnoxious at the souvenir place," I said.

He furrowed his brow. "No, no." He sighed. "I'm a guest at your home, you know? I'm not here to like..." he shook his head.

"Take advantage?" I said smiling.

"Yeah," he said, smiling back. "That's not me."

"I know," I said looking at him. "I know, I can tell, but I also like getting you stuff. I've enjoyed getting you all I've gotten you so far," I said looking into his eyes. He looked at me.

"Thank you," he said. I nodded. I looked out the window at the ocean. There was a sail boat going by. "Have you been sailing?" he asked me.

"I have," I said nodding as I watched the sail boat.

"We should go sailing," he said.

"We should," I agreed.

Suddenly, a year didn't seem long enough with him. I looked at him and found he was looking at me. I held his gaze.

"What are you thinking?" he asked me.

What a question! I thought. Elio, I've become quite smitten by your intelligence, musical genius and effortless charm (which I've dubbed European charm) but I'm worried you will look back at anything that may happen between us as a huge mistake several years down the road.

I sighed and smiled. "It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea," I said. "That a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee." I looked at him. He had a wide smile on his face. I smiled and looked back out at the ocean again. "And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me."

"I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea," Elio continued. "But we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee." I looked at him, amazed. The emotion in his voice was breathtaking. "With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven coveted her and me."

"You recite poetry with as much emotion as you play music," I said, looking at him. I saw the slight blush on his cheeks. I wish I could caress them.

 Our waiter came and we suddenly noticed we hadn't even looked at our menus. We opened them finally. We decided to do as we did at lunch and share what we ordered.

"I wouldn't mind living in a kingdom by the sea," he said.

I nodded. "It's great. The snapper is always fresh."

"Ha ha," he laughed.

I thought of Bubbe's house. It was not even fifteen minutes away from here. Bubbe would have loved him.

"I love the second to last stanza," he said. "But our love it was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we. Of many far wiser than we. And neither the angels in Heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee."

I looked at him and nodded. This time it was him that looked out into the ocean. "And what does it mean to you?" I asked with a smile.

He chuckled. "Well, it means that when you know, you  _know,_ and no one can take that away," he said. "I've never been in love, but I'm sure when my soul mate comes, it will not stay hidden for long."

"Indeed," I said. I looked out at the water. He had not said 'he' or 'she' when he mentioned a soul mate. The sailboat had long gone. The sun was setting.

"Have you ever been in love?" he asked me.

"No," I said. I looked back at him. He nodded slowly and opened his mouth, as if to speak, but was interrupted by the waiter who came with our food.

We started eating in silence. After a while I asked, "What were you going to say before the food came?" I wanted to know.

"Oh," he smiled, suddenly looking shy. "I was just going to say, I was surprised you had never been in love," he said, looking up to me through his long eyelashes. He gave me a small smile, as if he was afraid he may have offended me by what he said.

"Why?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm sure you've had your fair share of relationships," he said.

"My fair share?" I asked, raising my eye brows and smiling at him.

His eyes widened a bit, "Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude of me to say," he said stammering a bit.

I chuckled. I know, at my age now, if I was having dinner with someone I was interested in, I wouldn't be too concerned about how many people they had dated, at seventeen, I would have. Could this be a sign that he was interested in me? I chose to believe it was. "It's alright," I said with a casual shrug. I was finding this exchange quite delightful.

I reached over and took something from the plate he had closest to him. I leaned back on my chair and looked over his face. "You know quantity doesn't equal quality, right?" I said.

He looked up at me and nodded. "Yes, of course," he said.

"With that being said though," I continued, "I've not had that many relationships," I said, looking into his eyes. He nodded again. I saw his shoulders relax.

I held his gaze. “I can honestly say that no relationship that I’ve had was important.” He nodded again. “I am still waiting for the one that is more myself than I am,” I said to him. He smiled and bit his lip. He looked down at the table. 

It was completely dark outside now and I could see our reflections on the glass. I thought if I were walking by and saw us I would think we were a good looking couple. I smiled at myself. I liked that thought. 

“What?” He asked.

”Nothing,” I said, shaking my head and smiling. I was beyond happy and completely terrified.

 


	10. If You Could Read My Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ALL for the wonderful reception I've gotten to my little story!
> 
> This is NOT the end I will be posting Part Two ASAP!
> 
> Big hugs to all of you<3

After dinner we walked slowly to the car. I somehow got the feeling that he felt as I did and didn't want the night to come to an end. Part of me wanted to take him to my house and spend the night with him. That wasn't an option at all but it surprised me that I wanted to.

I tried to figure out what I was feeling. There was this needing and wanting of more, but there was this serenity to just being with him. This was all knew to me. I looked at him. I thought of me at his age. He had so much to discover these coming years. Go away, stupid thought, I said to myself.

 

"You said were going to be eighteen at the end of the year?" I asked.

"Yeah, December 27th," he said.

I nodded. "Ok," I said.

"You?" he asked.

"I was already eighteen a few years ago," I said. "Been there, done that," I said laughing as he punched me in the arm playfully. "I'll be 24 August 28th," I said.

We reached the car. I looked at my watch, it was 8:21 pm. It wasn't late. We got into the car.

"Where to now?" he asked me smiling.

"Well," I said, I couldn't help but smile back. God, he was too damn good to be true, "the beach doesn't close till ten, so -"

"Yeah, let's go back. Unless you want to stay at this one?" he said looking out at the coast.

I smiled and shook my head. I pulled out and drove back to where we had been at earlier in the day. I parked at Shoreline Park this time. I went to the trunk and took the blanket out. We strolled through the park, chatting and descended the stairs down to the shore. There was no one around. We walked to a spot and put the blanket out and sat on it, looking out at the ocean. I bent my knees and rested my forearms on them. 

"So why did you disappear yesterday?" he asked me.

"I just went to Bubbe's house, is all," I said quietly, looking straight ahead. I wasn't lying.

"Your house," he said.

"My house," I repeated.

"So you'll be moving into it whenever you're done fixing it up?" he asked.

I looked at him. "When I'm ready," I said.

He nodded. He leaned back on his hands and looked up at the sky. "Too bad I didn't bring the guitar," he said. "It's a perfect moment to play.”

I smiled. "Well, next time we come here at night, we'll make sure you bring it." I glanced his way. He still had his face tilted up towards the sky. "What does this moment sound like?" I asked him.

"Yellow," he said without missing a beat.

I laid down on the blanket, hands behind my head as I looked up at the stars. "Lovely song choice," I said.

He laid down beside me. "Of course, next time we come, I'll have to see what's inspiring me. The song next time may be completely different," he said.

"Of course," I said. "As Heraclitus said: no man steps in the same river twice." I looked over at him and saw he was already looking at me. "For it's not the same river and he's not the same man." 

He smiled at me. "I like that," he said.

We laid there looking up at the ink colored sky and sparling stars. I suddenly remembered the poem that had made me buy him the poetry book. I recited the second half in my head.

"Are you thinking about a book, a song or a poem?" he asked me.

"Poem," I said. "You?"

"Book, well, play, Shakespeare."

"Which one?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

I smiled, "Your romantic soul strikes again!" I reached over and poked his left side.

He grabbed his side, laughing. He got up on his knees, facing me and spread his arms. "Come, gentle night," he recited. "Come, loving, black-brow'd night, give me my Romeo; and when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with the night!"

" _Cut_ him out in little stars? Good grief!" I said, jokingly, sitting up. "No, thank you!" I got up on my knees and poked and tickled him again.

He grabbed my hands and tried to get me, but I was quicker and he was very ticklish. I loved his laugh. We started playfully wrestling, I was still tickling him as well. I was winning, too, he was slowly falling over and couldn't seem to get up. I was having so much fun.

 Suddenly, I felt a jab to my side. It wasn't painful, but it caught me totally by surprise. He quickly slipped out from under me and pushed me on my back, his palms on my shoulders. He was suddenly on top of me.

He was panting and laughing. I looked at up at him, moonlight bouncing off his dark curls.  _"Veni! Vidi! Vici!"_ he said. As quickly, as he had climbed on top of me he got off and was sitting beside me, laughing. 

I smiled and got up and looked at him. "That's presumptuous of you," I said with a smile on my face. He looked at me with a triumphant little smile on his lovely lips. “You've not conquered anything," yet, I thought.

He bit his lip and laughed and looked out at the ocean. "I may not have won the war  _yet,_ " he said, shaking his head, "but even you can't deny I just won that battle."

 

* * *

 

 We stayed out at the beach until 10 pm. We had over an hour out there but to me if felt like mere minutes. We drove back home. My parents weren't home yet. We got everything out of the trunk. I put the blanket and beach towels in the laundry room. I had grabbed the bag with the postcards. Elio took the other bags upstairs. I went upstairs and into my room. I heard the soft tap of fingertips on my bathroom door. I opened it. Elio was standing there with the book I had bought for him.

I opened my door and stepped aside, sweeping my arm as if to motion for him to come in. He smiled and stepped in, his beautiful eyes curious, looking around my room, taking everything in.

My room was the same size as his. There was a stand up mirror to the left when you walked in from the bathroom. My closet door beside it. My king size bed on the wall adjacent, night tables and lamps on either side. On the wall across from it I had my tv mounted on the wall, with a stereo and DVD player underneath on a shelf unit. My desk with my laptop on the wall across from where we were standing, with a big window behind it, like the one in his room. A tall wardrobe to the left of my desk, by the corner. My walls were a light shade of blue.

He pointed to the painting above my bed. "Monet. Sailboat at Le Petit-Gennevilliers," he said with a smile. I smiled back, putting my hands in my pockets. He placed the book on the bed.

"It's yours," I said. "I bought it for you."

"Oh!" he said. "Thank you," he said looking at me with a smile. I smiled back. "You didn't say, I didn't know." he said.

"Yeah, I see that now," I said as I walked to my wardrobe and took a bathrobe out. I took my shirt off and threw it on my bed. "I'll be right back," I said and walked into the bathroom. I pulled the door shut but didn't shut it all the way. I took a quick shower. I dried myself off quickly and put my bathrobe on. He was sitting on my bed leafing through the book when I walked back in.

"I hope you like," I said. "He's my absolute favorite poet."

"E.E. Cummings," he said nodding. "Yes, I hear your voice in my head as I was reading right now," he said. He suddenly blushed as if he had divulged a secret he hadn't meant to.

I ran my hand through my hair. He wasn't making this any easier for me.

He looked at me shyly. "Which one's your favorite?" he asked me.

Not yet, I thought. "I want you to read them, read  _all_ of them and tell me which ones jumped out at you," I said with a smile. "No rush," I said, "don't rush it. Let them sink in, then let me know."

He nodded and smiled. He looked down at the book. "Are you going to go to your grandmother's house again tomorrow?" he asked without looking up.

"I'm not sure yet." I said, looking at him. "But even if I do, we'll watch Dorian Gray tomorrow. I promise."

"Well, if you go, I could go with you. I could help you with anything. It would be fun," he said with a shrug, finally looking up at me.

If I took him there, that place would have memories of him. I wanted that. I wanted everything I liked to have memories of him attached to them. I'm insane, I thought.

I smiled at him, "In all honesty, I doubt I'll go there tomorrow. Thank you for your offer and yeah, next time I need help, you'll be the first to know," I said.

He smiled and nodded. He seemed happy with my answer. He didn't seem to want to go and I didn't want him to go either. He opened the book back up and started leafing through it again. I didn't care, we could have just sat there till sunrise. I watched as he turned the pages slowly, his long, thin index finger would run down the pages, sometimes stopping all together. His hands were so beautiful.

"So, if you weren't planning to go, what were you thinking of doing tomorrow? Did you have plans?"

"No," I said. "I'm on summer vacation, just like you, so no plans till September." He nodded, looking pleased. "I'm sure we can figure out something to do after breakfast," I said. I wanted to spend time with him. He smiled at me. Suddenly he yawned. "It's been a long day," I said.

"It was great," he said. "Thank you so much for today.” He closed the book and I watched as he tapped it against my knee. I smiled.

I looked up at him, “It was great," I said. "I had a lot of fun with you and we have a lot of places to go still," I said to him.

"Good, I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too."

"Ok, I think I've bothered you long enough," he said, chuckling, as he got up slowly from the bed.

"You could never," I said with a slow shake of my head. It just came out, but it was the absolute truth.

He looked down at me, tapping the book against his palm. I ran my hand through my hair again, resting it on the back of my neck. We looked at each other. If you could read my mind, I thought. We  held each other's gaze for a while, as if neither wanted to look away.

The sound of car doors slamming broke the spell. We laughed.

"Good night, Oliver," he said.

"Good night, Elio," I said softly.

He walked through my bathroom door and pulled the door closed but left it slightly ajar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! Thank you again for the lovely comment and kudos, they are absolutely appreciated!
> 
> FYI: the phrase Elio uses: Veni! Vidi! Vici! Means “I came, I saw, I conquered which is why Oliver tells him he hasn’t conquered anything (yet) ;)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you ALL for the wonderful reception I've gotten to my little story!
> 
> This is NOT the end I will be posting Part Two ASAP!
> 
> Big hugs to all of you<3


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